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Wednesday, 1 August 2012

Review - The Field Kitchen

On Friday night as a birthday treat, Mike and I went with some friends to The Field Kitchen . It was so good that I want to recommend it to everyone!

The field kitchen is a pop-up restaurant, I shall leave further description to the website:

“Imagine a garden, barn or courtyard filled with low-lit lamps, round and rectangular tables, higgledy piggledy cutlery, glassware, table linen and plates. Complimentary jugs of wine and fresh elderflower and fruit concoctions. Steaming hot Italian coffee. Take a van with a kitchen in it, fill it full of fresh, local and interesting ingredients. Put an instinctive chef in it who is all about passion and giving the best he can. Welcome to The Field Kitchen Oxford.”

On Friday, with the sun beaming, it was held in Hogacre Common, found by walking down a track, crossing a (honestly sketchy looking) railway bridge and emerging into a sunkissed meadow with a pavillion. When we arrived, there were children playing rounders and happy adults enjoying coffee and looking smug after their own meals.

the field kitchen, in a field, husband looks happy about his pork

We were seated under a granny lampshade next to speakers playing lovely folky music (later replaced by live music). I sent a photo to my mum who remarked 'oh you really did mean eating in a field'. We received jugs of wine and water and settled down to wait for our first course (we didn't know what we were getting until we got there).On the table were lovely flowers and herbs, and a sprig of lavender on our napkins. The starter was a sourdough bruchetta with a pea and garlic puree and it was a great introduction to the type of food, which one could imagine was plucked straight from the community allotment next door (indeed, some is sourced from that very allotment). The food was served on mismatched crockery, but I managed to get the same set for main and pudding.

Seabass and strawberry and custard tart.

The others had pork as their main (and see how happy my husband looks!), I had seabass having consulted with the chef the day before. Both were served with a scrumptious caponata - not as sweet as the version I make so that it complemented the fish more. I really didn't expect something as extravagant as seabass for my meal so it was a wonderful surprise. Pudding was an equally glorious strawberry custard tart.

Snuggled up husband

We finished off with a pot of coffee fresh from the stove whilst listening to the acoustic performers and chatting. By then the sun had set and it had got chilly so on went the lamps and we were provided with blankets from a huge hamper. We had already paid online for the meal and so it was a very relaxed atmosphere with no pressure to leave. Others came and went but we basked in the atmosphere.

In case of rain, there is a pavillion on the common where dinner can be served, but we were very glad that we got to experience the true 'Field Kitchen'. The meal cost us £30 each, including the wine and we would definitely love to go again (if we weren't leaving Oxford in 3 weeks).